Ford Field turf replacement to begin May 1

New FieldTurf Classic HD brand artificial grass is same as current field

Replacement expected to take four weeks

Lions say replacement is for wear and aesthetic reasons, not performance or safety

Jacob Lewkow

The Detroit Lions' current field was installed in 2013.

The Detroit Lions on Wednesday formally announced that Ford Field will get new artificial turf in time for the 2019 season.

Crain's first reported the news Sunday. The team said that work to replace the field is scheduled to begin May 1 and is expected to take four weeks.

The Lions said they're replacing the field ahead of its expected lifespan of at least 10 years because of wear and aesthetic reasons. The team said there are no safety or performance issues, but want to ensure the artificial grass performs well and looks good by replacing it now. The turf's warranty isn't being used for the replacement, the team confirmed.

The Lions will install FieldTurf Classic HD from Montreal-based FieldTurf, owned by French flooring giant Tarkett Group Inc. since 2005. The new grass is the same make and model artificial turf laid down as a replacement field in 2013. The same turf also is used inside the Lions' enclosed practice facility in Allen Park, which was last replaced in 2016. The original Ford Field turf from when the $500 million stadium opened in 2002 was FieldTurf Classic, a product that was improved to the Classic HD model that uses an improved polymer, the company said.

"We've partnered with FieldTurf since the inaugural season at Ford Field because of our confidence in their proven product," Lions team President Rod Wood said in a statement. "With ongoing enhancements in turf technology, we are embracing the opportunity to work with FieldTurf to install their best available playing surface and maintain the highest standards of safety for all players at our stadium."

There have been 60 Lions games played on the turf, plus college and high school games, along with concerts and events. Different logos are regularly painted and removed from the turf for games.

Cost wasn't disclosed, but it's expected to be in the $700,000 range. FieldTurf's online cost analysis for its turf versus real grass shows an 80,000-square-foot field would have a $320,000 cost for the base layer and $380,000 for materials. It also estimates $5,000 annually for maintenance. It's unclear if the team will get a discount because this is its third field from the same manufacturer.

The stadium is owned by the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority, but the Lions are privately funding the grass replacement, as they did with a $100 million interior renovation two years ago. The Lions didn't put the turf project out for formal bid, but did say they researched different companies as part of internal due diligence.

The old turf is expected to be recycled by FieldTurf, which deferred all comment about the Ford Field grass to the Lions. The Lions made small chunks of the original 2002 turf available for sale as souvenirs after it was removed in 2013, but there are no plans to do that this time.

Here is how the artificial turf is described by the Lions in a statement: "Classic HD uses slit-film yarn that strikes the perfect balance between durability and feel. FieldTurf uses a mix of high-end polymer and UV stabilizers to create individual fibers that can withstand the pounding of an elite football program."

The artificial grass uses an infill mix of silica sand and rubber and is intended to be cheaper to maintain than natural grass. FieldTurf manufactures its football field surfaces in Calhoun, Ga.

Because Ford Field is an enclosed stadium with artificial grass, it was built without a field drainage system. That means any time there field is pressure washed, to remove colored logos or for cleaning, there is nowhere for water and paint to go except to drain and settle into the infill.

Crain's broke the news of the field replacement on April 7 when reporting about the minutes of the November 2018 annual meeting of the stadium authority, during which a Lions executive explained plans for the new turf.

"We are considering — we are starting the process to replace the field turf that's on the field, so we are researching all the different companies that are out there right now. Our turf is the second-oldest turf of artificial fields in the NFL. It was installed in 2013. So we will likely be replacing that as part of our off season in 2019," said Todd Argust, the Lions' vice president of operations since 2014, according to a transcript of the stadium authority's meeting provided by Wayne County.

The authority leases Ford Field and Comerica Park to Wayne County, which then subleases them to the Detroit Downtown Development Authority. In turn, the DDA had concession and management agreements with the Lions and Detroit Tigers that define how the teams operate the stadiums. Those deals allow the teams to keep all revenue generated by stadiums.

The Lions have a 35-year lease at $250,000 annually for Ford Field, with six 10-year options.

The University of Michigan installed FieldTurf to replace the natural grass at Michigan Stadium in 2003, and it's widely used at U.S. and Canadian colleges for football and field hockey. In the NFL, it's also used by the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, and New England Patriots (seven other teams use artificial turf from other companies). Many high schools nationally use FieldTurf; in 1998, Detroit Country Day School's Shaw Stadium in Beverly Hills became the first high school to have it installed.

FieldTurf came under legal and media scrutiny for alleged performance failures of many of its Duraspine fiber turf fields that were sold to schools and municipalities and had to often be replaced. That turf, which was discontinued in 2010, is different from the model of turf used inside Ford Field.

The University of Michigan used Duraspine turf for its football practice field, inside the Oosterbaan FieldHouse, at its baseball stadium, and a small fieldhouse, according to a NJ.com database tracking the installation of Duraspine fields as part of an in-depth investigation into the turf. It's unclear the status of those UM fields, and an athletic department spokesman said he knew of no issues with the turf.

Wayne State University's installed a $900,000 Duraspine fiber football field in 2006, and spent $415,000 on a no-bid contract with FieldTurf to replace it in 2015 with the company's "FieldTurf Revolution" branded turf, according to a report from the campus student newspaper. WSU reported no issues with the old field, the newspaper reported.

FieldTurf has denied wrongdoing over its Duraspine fields and noted in statement that the issue was primarily with fields in high-UV lighting regions such as in the West and South, and is an aesthetic issue rather than one tied to performance or safety.